DHP Review: An American Carol
Posted by Dirty Harry on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
For the record, the cut I saw of An American Carol was not the finished cut. As a matter of fact, I was told it was the first cut. So you can safely assume that the film has improved since.
Political satire is a tough genre requiring a wire walker at the helm with the talent and maturity to avoid the dual pitfalls of sanctimony and pretension. John Cusack couldn’t do it. War, Inc. was an embarrassment that wallowed in both of those pitfalls and could be a case-study in what not to do. David Zucker, however, not only pulls it off with An American Carol, he does so rather brilliantly.
Yes, I said “brilliant,” and I mean it. Anyone who’s seen Airplane! (1980) or The Naked Gun (1988) knows that Zucker has genius in him, but to transfer that genius so successfully into the Making A Statement department caught me completely by surprise. But first and foremost, An American Carol is absolutely, laugh-out-loud hilarious.
The smartest thing David Zucker did was make a David Zucker film — meaning the jokes hit at a blistering pace and are spectacularly sophomoric and silly. Considering the high success rate of the jokes in the first cut, I can only imagine how much better it all plays now.
The jokes work for two important reasons; they’re based on truth and are never once mean-spirited. The tone is silly, not angry. And how refreshing to see the the sacredest of sacred cows like the ACLU and Islamic-terrorists finally get the good, solid satiric going-over they so richly deserve. Reasonable liberals might even laugh. After all, one may agree with their stand, but who can argue that the ACLU isn’t hostile towards the Ten Commandments? Knowing that, and watching them portrayed as zombies attacking the Commandments on a courtroom wall while a judge played by Dennis Hopper blows them away with a shotgun would be funny to anyone, right?
Right?
The film’s premised on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with Michael Malone (Kevin Farley) standing in for Ebenezer Scrooge as three ghosts show him the error of his insufferable ways. Malone (an obvious Michael Moore) has sinned against freedom and liberty through his continued criticism of America and his crusade to ban the 4th of July. The main guide to his patriotic rebirth is General George S. Patton, played with wit and skill by Kelsey Grammer.
Wisely, the film strays a bit from the Dickens’ boilerplate with a subplot involving three Islamic terrorists, led by a hilarious Robert Davi, who want to use Moore’s gullibility about the whole terrorist threat thing to gain access to a crowded event they’ve targeted for a high-profile attack.
Kevin Farley is magnificent as Malone. Because he’s our protagonist, Zucker very smartly makes him a sympathetic figure in many respects. Unlike the real Michael Moore, Malone isn’t hateful, he’s just misguided and a little pathetic. Farley captures this pathos perfectly, allowing us to root for his redemption.
The most impressive and surprising aspect of the film, however, is something I’ve never seen before in a Zucker film: a big, beating, and profoundly affecting heart. As the film progresses and Malone is shown the errors and consequences of his ways the narrative takes on a more serious tone that ends at the wreckage of the World Trade Center where no less than George Washington (The Mighty Jon Voight) explains what it all means. This is no contrived or cheap leap at sentiment. Rather it’s a very real and memorable lump-in-the-throat moment delivered at the hands of a filmmaker who knows what he’s doing.
If I have one criticism it would be all the hullabaloo surrounding the climax which in true Zucker fashion ends at a big event where all parties and plot-lines come together. This played a little flat and my single experience at making a feature tells me that even though what I saw was a first cut, no amount of editing could make this play as well as the rest of the film. Hopefully, I’m wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time. But I’d prefer to error on the side of honesty.
I do not believe that it is up to conservative audiences to make conservative films and filmmakers successful. What I believe is that it’s up to conservative filmmakers to make films we want to see. Just being “conservative” isn’t enough. We’re not cattle. We expect quality for our buck. Whether liberal or conservative, a film cynically produced is still a film cynically produced regardless of which side of the political aisle it emanates from. Deliver the goods and we’ll come. Otherwise…
Zucker delivers … and then some. You’ll love this film. This one’s for us and damn if it doesn’t feel good for a change to be delivering punches instead of sitting there taking them. At 83 mintues (79 without end credits) the film will fly by; there’s also a treaure of surprises I wasn’t going to spoil here; and don’t worry about anything offensive to the kids. The PG-13 rating was a surprise.
A hearty laugh and a patriotic glow are good for the soul and haven’t been available at your local theatre since, well, forever.
Go.
Filed in Movie Reviews |
Jillon 02 Oct 2008 at 5:50 pm 1Yay!! I’m telling you, I just saw the 10 minute clip over at www.moviefone.com and I laughed so hard. I wasn’t expecting to but I did.
EVERYONE go see the movie…..we need to put our money where our mouths are and SUPPORT conservatives…..
Make this a HUGE success and make Hollywood cringe this weekend as they watch the box office numbers roll in.
Please, please, please.
Jillon 02 Oct 2008 at 5:52 pm 2By the way, saw this at Gateway Pundit. A “I’m voting democrat because….” spoof/satire/commercial….
It’s also hilarious. Go see it…..
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/10/heres-this-years-list-of-reasons-to.html
laconicon 02 Oct 2008 at 5:56 pm 3I hate to criticise such a great review, but….. “Reasonable liberals”, by definition no such subspecies exists;)
Capt. Nemoon 02 Oct 2008 at 5:56 pm 4I always thought a Zucker comedy was more of a throw a lot of jokes against a wall and see what sicks technique.
Don\’t let\’em breath.
Are you sure that he was being precise?
Kiton 02 Oct 2008 at 6:58 pm 5Anything on JFK in the film?
TROon 02 Oct 2008 at 7:52 pm 6I am so happy you enjoyed it . . . looking forward to seeing it this weekend.
tranquilitason 02 Oct 2008 at 8:20 pm 7>>After all, one may agree with their stand, but who can argue that the ACLU isn’t hostile towards the Ten Commandments? Knowing that, and watching them portrayed as zombies attacking the Commandments on a courtroom wall while a judge played by Dennis Hopper blows them away with a shotgun would be funny to anyone, right?
Right?>>
YES! Your description made me laugh out loud.
David123456on 02 Oct 2008 at 8:36 pm 8I liked it! Was genuinely funny. The one part I didn’t like was the last scene of the girls scout insulting Malone. It made him seem sympathetic for about 2 seconds, and I doubt that was the intended effect.
Blue Sandon 02 Oct 2008 at 9:06 pm 9Thanks for the review. I’m definitely going to go see it this weekend. I’m also going to buy 3 or 4 additional tickets, just to boost the box office for the weekend in my small way. And then I’ll do that again the next weekend. If I can find takers for the tickets, great. If not, great. I believe strongly in putting my money where my mouth is.
Johnny Ed's Babyon 02 Oct 2008 at 9:11 pm 10I heard Kelsy on Laura’s radio show and he was great. I’ll definitely see it just to see Patton slap Moore.
Of course the real Gen Patton would not stop at slapping the real Michael Moore. Which is one reason why he was one of the greatest generals ever.
Phoenixon 02 Oct 2008 at 9:37 pm 11A Christmas Carol \ his crusade to ban the 4th of July
That’s good
Historic book-ends make it real.
And great timing too.
How’s “W” doing just in time, again?
If it makes more than all the Hollywood Bombs For Terrorists combined, and McCain\Plain win….. expect to see heads exploding like “Mars Attacks!”
Order popcorn early, there’ll be a run.
MovieBobon 02 Oct 2008 at 9:42 pm 12DH
“Just being “conservative” isn’t enough. We’re not cattle.”
Uh, dude? The profitable hauls for Bible Man, VeggieTales, Facing the Giants, Omega Code, Left Behind and a freaking Kirk Cameron fighterfighter-with-marital-strife movie beg to differ with you on that one…
I mean, if one nice thing can be said of American “liberals,” it’s that - as you seldom tire of noting - they DON’T automatically run out to support schlocky movies aimed at them. Hell, even the real Michael Moore’s most recent film didn’t perform spectacularly.
That said, I’m a fan of just about all the major players involved in this movie (well, except Kevin Farley who I’ve only seen in car commercials but whom people tell me is a swell guy) and, IF it’s good and deserves to, I’d like to see it do well if for no other reason than debate makes things more fun.
What worries me now is, the TWO things that Zucker has almost NEVER been good at - genuine emotion (show of hands for ANYONE who thinks “Airplane” would’ve worked if the two leads’ romantic arc had been played straight instead of as a brutal satire of idiotic movie romance) and of-the-moment politics (go back and marvel at how dull and draggy the environment/Bush I stuff actually is in Naked Gun 2 1/2) are apparently so much a part of this one. I mean, the Zucker who made “Kentucky Fried Movie” couldn’t pull that kind of material off… I’ve got very little hope that the Zucker who made “Scary Movie 3″ can.
EPorvaznikon 02 Oct 2008 at 10:20 pm 13>>and of-the-moment politics (go back and marvel at how dull and draggy the environment/Bush I stuff actually is in Naked Gun 2 1/2>>
A decent point, Bobbo. Now I’d like you to go back and watch the cold open in the first Naked Gun movie. If only Frank Drebin would have taken out that den of fools.
Ronsonicon 02 Oct 2008 at 10:32 pm 14If anyone can tell me, square up, this is not “Political Movie” I’m going this weekend.
Kensingtonon 02 Oct 2008 at 11:10 pm 15“I mean, if one nice thing can be said of American “liberals,” it’s that - as you seldom tire of noting - they DON’T automatically run out to support schlocky movies aimed at them.”
Oh, please, Bob. No one would have enough time in the day to see every film aimed at liberals. Nowadays, generally, they’re all aimed at liberals.
Jillon 03 Oct 2008 at 12:10 am 16Kensington — so true!!
An American Carol « The Reluctant Optimiston 03 Oct 2008 at 4:29 am 17[…] this weekend. Here’s part of a review of the movie by Dirty Harry. Political satire is a tough genre requiring a wire walker at the helm with the talent and maturity […]
Morganon 03 Oct 2008 at 5:20 am 18If I miss some of the films I wish to see this year (Lakeview Terrace, Ghost Town, Appaloosa, Burn After Reading, etc.), it won’t matter as long as I see An American Carol, and THAT is what I intend to do.
PerfectTommyon 03 Oct 2008 at 5:21 am 19Boxofficeguru is predicting $3 mil for “American Carol” this weekend. Of course, he didn’t even see “Fireproof” coming.
Mr24pon 03 Oct 2008 at 6:07 am 20I already have plans to go see it and am taking a friend on Saturday.
Bonnie_on 03 Oct 2008 at 6:36 am 21I just bought seven tickets for tonight’s showing. I’m not padding the numbers; the whole family is going, plus my Dad.
My kids love Airplane, Top Secret, and The Naked Gun. They love physical humor and when they laugh, I laugh even at the lamest 3 Stooges routine.
And yes, I’m turning them into little conservatives. When they’re older, they’ll be big, armed conservatives.
NeoConJedion 03 Oct 2008 at 8:46 am 22I’m going at 1:15 — can’t wait.
The leftist entertainment editor at my newspaper wouldn’t put the feature story of this pic in his section, so I worked it in the political section with a HUGE picture of Kelsey Grammer.
GeronimoRumplestiltskinon 03 Oct 2008 at 9:27 am 23Since Patton is portrayed in the film, I can’t help but think of my father’s two experiences with the General. My dad served in the 26th Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division in WWII. He fought in Africa, Sicily, D-Day (Easy Red Sector, Omaha Beach), France (including the Battle of the Bulge), and Germany. He was awarded a Silver Star at Kasserine Pass, a Bronze Star (in Sicily, I believe), and two Purple Hearts.
He first met Patton immediately after the Kasserine Pass defeat. Patton had been briefed about the condition of the soldiers, but apparently wanted to hear from some infantrymen themselves. So, while going from unit to unit, he asked a tall, muscular sergeant from NYC (my dad) if what he had been told was true - that the soldiers had all they needed.
My dad: “That’s a bunch of bullshit. We haven’t had a hot meal in three weeks or a hot shower in three weeks……sir.”
Patton immediately turned to his aide and said “The first thing we do is get these men a hot meal and hot shower.”
After the Nazis had been defeated in Africa, my dad fought in Sicily. Assigned to guard a bridge, my dad became increasingly frustrated with his helmet, and threw it away (!). I find this funny, because when I was a kid and my friends and I used to play “war” - when kids were still allowed to do such things - we all used to love to wear helmets. My dad used to wince and tell us that wearing a real WWII-era helmet was like “wearing a steel pot on your head”. Naturally, being a kid, and wanting realism, I played “war” one day with my mom’s spaghetti-boiling pot on my head. Not too comfortable.
Anyway, there my dad stood sans helmet, when an escorted car drove up and stopped. Out of the car strode Patton, who walked over to my dad and asked “Where’s your helmet, soldier?”
My dad stood at attention before the most feared general in the US Army. “I threw it away, sir.”
Patton: “Why did you do that?”
My dad: “Because I don’t like the goddamned thing.”
Patton fined Dad $50 (which my dad said he never paid), and drove off.
To picture my dad telling the most feared and respected General in the Army that he threw away his helmet because he didn’t “like the goddamned thing.” still makes me smile, because it was vintage Dad. He’s been gone 15 years now (buried in Arlington National Cemetary), and I still miss him….
Save the GOP » Blog Archive » It’s Oct. 3rd! Get Your Movie Tickets Nowon 03 Oct 2008 at 11:18 am 24[…] Get your conservative worldview-themed review here. […]
Michaelon 03 Oct 2008 at 11:53 am 25GeronimoRumplestiltskin -
Thanks for sharing that story about your dad’s experiences with Patton….brought a tear to my eyes…as I am sure it did to others.
I am going to see this movie this weekend and take my wife and two daughters.
Thank you David Zucker!
Lauraon 03 Oct 2008 at 12:29 pm 26“And yes, I’m turning them into little conservatives. When they’re older, they’ll be big, armed conservatives. ”
Hear, hear, Bonnie! We’re aiming for the same target.
I’ll have to get a sitter and go take my husband this weekend. I’m not a big fan of the Naked Gun and Airplane movies myself, but I do enjoy watching my husband crack up over them.
Carolynon 03 Oct 2008 at 1:04 pm 27Geronimo - bless you for sharing the tale.
My foster father - God rest his soul - fought in France and Germany. And Lucky was adamant in his respect for Patton. ”All those other damned generals fought from the rear but Patton was right there in the front with us.”
———-
On a different note. I don’t go into theaters to see films - I wait until they come out on video. But this film is too important to waste. So I’m going on Fandango and buying two tickets for it tonight. It’s the least I can do.
Carolynon 03 Oct 2008 at 1:13 pm 28Okay. I just bought two adult tickets to ‘An American Carol’ off Fandango for the Metreon in San Francisco. It’s the 8:20 p.m. showing. So if you see two empty seats, they’re MINE!
Wooo hoooo!
Ken Bendoron 03 Oct 2008 at 1:22 pm 29Somehow not surprisingsly, the Razzies website has already named An American Carol as their Worst (Movie) of the Weak, despite no reviews having come in when they posted that, and other releases like Blindness, How to Lose Friends…, and Beverly Hills Chihauhua(!) not getting the most stellar reviews themselves :(…
MikeHon 03 Oct 2008 at 1:41 pm 30No matter how well or funny the film actually is, don’t we expect it to get pretty much a near 0% tomato-meter score on rottentomatoes.com when the “top critics” weigh in on this? I mean, they have to pretty much say this is the worst and stupidest movie of all time - lest any of their true-believer brothers/sister-in-arms think that anyone is straying from the reservation by saying ANYTHING favorable about it. I am actually looking forward to it getting a near “0″ score, and then performing well at the box office.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/an_american_carol/
It is great that this wasn’t put out for the usual suspects to pan before opening. Of course, that makes them - the usual suspects - even more spittle-spewing.
Greg Qon 03 Oct 2008 at 1:51 pm 31I just saw the movie. Unfortunately, you’re right about the ending. Malone switched to the good guys side too easily, IMHO.
OTOH, the “sailors” and “Marines” jokes were priceless.
It’s not just a political movie. I laughed a lot, and I cried a bit, and it’s definitely worth seeing.
blainemonoon 03 Oct 2008 at 2:27 pm 32THE tinseltown theatres near me aren’t showing it so I have to drive twices as far to see it…
Moon 03 Oct 2008 at 2:29 pm 33I enjoyed it! And it was really touching in parts. Brought tears to my eyes. I wasn’t expecting that from a comedy movie.
Steve W.on 03 Oct 2008 at 6:01 pm 34I caught the 5:50 showing, and there were maybe a half dozen people besides me. Of course, this was at a theater in Manhattan, so I guess that’s only to be expected.
Any way, it was a pretty solid, funny movie. When I first heard about the scene with Malone and George Washington looking at the WTC ruins, I had my doubts, but the scene is surprisingly effective. Indeed, it is the most poignant and most true reflection on the meaning of 9/11 that’s appeared so far on the big screen. The fact that it appears in, of all movies, a David Zucker comedy absolutely damns Hollywood.
Growltigeron 03 Oct 2008 at 6:14 pm 35Just got home from seeing “An American Carol”. In our area, Regal has two cinaplexes within 1/2 mile of each other — one with stadium seating, the other old and decrepit still smelling of cigarette smoke. Guess which one ran “An American Carol”.
The theatre was not full at the 7pm show but still more people than generally go to the “second class” Regal. (The other is bright, new and shiny). At the end, the audience erupted in applause.
The film. Robert Davi stole every scene in which he appeared.
Farley was excellent and Harry is 100% correct. He was likable. Even when you hated his ideology, you liked HIM. Kelsey Grammer did an excellent job as Patton. The laughs were gut splitting, but there was a sagging middle which got a little serious. Kind of hard being jerked out of laughing at silliness into thoughtfulness. The “slave scene” was uncomfortable for me. I squirmed. I saw the authors’ point, and they made it well, however, we’ve been indoctrinated by political correctness so completely that even though some of the scene was funny and well written, I couldn’t laugh.
We saw the film with friends who are younger than we. In discussions afterwards, it was interesting to see how post-modernist thought, H’wood and media propaganda have affected people who’re too young to remember a time when both sides were presented. Both liked the film and laughed loudly, however, thought the female spouse said it was “very right wing”. But when I pointed out that Michael Moore, Rosie O’Donnell et al had said and done EVERYTHING the movie lampooned, she was started to be aware of how she’s manipulated by the Leftist media etc to believe anything to the right of hard Left is “very right wing”.
Best scene? Hard to pick. The ACLU - a hoot. Rectal exams in airports - a screamer.
I give it four stars out of five.
Growltigeron 03 Oct 2008 at 6:21 pm 36Black hole ate my long post. Here’s the short version.
Great movie. Better than airplane. Too sophisticated in places for most people to “get”.
Robert Davi stole every scene he was in. Farley was excellent.
Lots of great scenes — ACLU, airport cavity searches, the “sailors/marines” bathroom, first scene in which terrorists are introduced.
Regal has two theatres within a 1/2 mild. One spiffy with stadium seating, the other old, moldly and still smelling of cig. smoke. Guess which one it was playing in. Good audience but not filled, still more in audience than usual for those theatres. Spontaneous applause, lots of loud guffaws all through it. Some touching scenes that snatched me out of the guffaws. Uncomfortable with the slave scene — pc indoctrination — but it made it’s point beautifully.
Congrats Mr. Zucker. It’ll be slammed by critics, Rotten Tomatoes et al. Don’t listen. It’s worth the price of a ticket, and most movies nowadays are not.
Stephanieon 03 Oct 2008 at 7:00 pm 37Hey Geronimo
Thats a wonderful story. My Dad, WWII vet of the Mighty 8th Air Force died 15 years ago, October 25…….
Never forget the memories and make sure every kid you know hears that story.
Jesson 03 Oct 2008 at 7:09 pm 38Saw it. Really, really enjoyed it, and it was worth every $.
Only bad part is that you DO have to pay attention - some laugh lines & jokes come thick & fast (that’s not a bad thing - I’ll just have to buy the DVD).
It’s not as “slapstick” as one might think, but that’s ok - by the midpoint it’s obvious that this is a very personal view of where we stand, and that message tends to overwhelm the final scenes (again, not a bad thing).
J
PS - Ok, what’s supposed to be at the end of the credits? Right when the ******* (no, I won’t spoil it) the projector operator shut it down. Guess I’ll have to sit thru it again
PSS - TMJV as Washington. That segment needs to be clipped on every video sharing site, blog, whatever. That scene is powerful beyond description - and is a brief window into what movies can do.
Michael Hutchisonon 03 Oct 2008 at 7:20 pm 39I went to the 5:20 showing today. I wanted to get it done so I could write a review this evening, but I should have gone in the evening for a bigger crowd. it would be more fun with a big crowd.
It’s a wildly uneven movie that often doesn’t know what it wants to be. The ACLU scene is funny, yeah, but it almost seems like a skit from a different film. The musical number at the college is heavy-handed and not funny. Indeed, there are too many moments where the preaching is a bit thick. I’m reminded of the worse elements of “Half Hour News Hour” where the crew was exultant at being right-wingers who were allowed to do a show for once and as a result went overboard. Grampa narrating and the smart-alec kids were just intrusive and unnecessary.
That said…man, this was fun for a conservative like me. So sweet to see, and funny and powerful. I hope it makes a fortune!
Bonnie_on 03 Oct 2008 at 8:32 pm 40We saw it at 5:00 p.m. in Boulder County, Colorado. I expected to be the only attendee, along with my family.
The theatre was packed! Was I dreaming? No, I wasn’t. Packed people, packed, in deep blue Boulder County.
Best of all, this was a great, funny movie that made me belly laugh. I don’t belly laugh often, but the whole audience was cracking up and having a bunch of people laugh made me laugh even harder.
There are a few bad words, but nothing my 9 year old daughter hasn’t heard. Some stage blood, and some pretty darned funny ACLU zombies. I’d take any young person to this film — the kids particularly liked the singing, dancing hippie teachers.
My favorite part was Dennis Hopper as the Judge, blowing away ACLU lawyers. It sounds over the top, but it was pitch perfect. The whole movie was just great. Today was a great day.
RWAon 03 Oct 2008 at 9:04 pm 41MovieBob:
“Religious” films shouldn’t be regarded as synonomous with “conservative” or “right of center” ones, although depressingly too many liberals AND conservatives think this is the case. Those movies you cited are aimed at a bare maximum of 10% of the movieviewing public, and this conservative certainly has no interest in seeing them.
MovieBobon 03 Oct 2008 at 9:12 pm 42I saw it tonight. For what it’s worth, the theatre was fairly full and there was applause at the very end - not spontaneous, though. One couple started, then others piggybacked. Make of that what you will.
I will agree with Michael Hutchinson that it’s wildly (I’d say INCREDIBLY) even but, being completely honest, I’d say it’s the funniest movie Zucker has made in years. And if that sounds like damning with faint praise, well… that’s cause it is.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
There are individual “skits” in here that are, in-and-of-themselves, funny, clever, biting and thought-provoking. The opening business with the slapstick terrorists, the “Sicko” spoof, the 1968 dance number, the modern plantation… all REALLY funny and well done. A whole movie of those and similar skits with no linking device - like Zucker’s own “Kentucky Fried Movie” - could have been a classic. And I say that as someone who disagrees with most of the points the sketches are making here.
The problem is, as I’d worried, the narrative and the attempt to “Say Something MEANINGFUL!!!” kills it, and it ends up walking all over the jokes. The “Just Like 68″ dance number is a perfect example: I thought it was funny, it makes it’s point well, it’s clever, it’s thought-provoking and well-staged. Left to it’s own, it’s funny enough to have been a South Park bit, even. But Zucker KILLS IT by not just letting it be; instead Grammer-as-Patton shows up and spoils the funny by explaining the premise and gravely-intoning the intended message and lesson. Imagine in Blazing Saddles if, in the middle of the “welcome speech” scene, a character stepped up to the camera and started going “Y’see, folks, the juxtaposition of modern racial slang and additudes into the story of a racist Old West town getting a Black sherriff is meant to be taken as a broader social commentary regarding how little progress has been made in race relations up to this point. Think about it, won’t you?” It’s a comedy-killing manuever.
This happens to almost every “bit,” and it just gets more and more irritating. It even helps kill the already rickety “serious” part. Just on it’s own, Malone emerging from the dusty church and realizing it’s 9/11 and the dust is coming from Ground Zero across the street should be a powerful - if heavy-handed - scene, but it’s ruined by Voigt-as-Washington telling the audience exactly whats going on, what the message is and what lesson we’re to take. Poor execution, bottom line. It’s obvious that Zucker is more interested in getting out the message than having the actual film work, and it shows. It’s a funny movie, certainly not “BAD” and one can sympathize with conservatives being glad to be catered-to for a change… but it’s an average, so-so spoof in it’s own right; and it’s not helped by the fact that just about every salient point it tries to make was already made better, smarter and funnier in “Team America.”
Scuffleon 03 Oct 2008 at 11:00 pm 43It’ll probably be a long time before I’m able to see this one, as the chances of it being released on this side of the Atlantic are slim. If Zucker’s managing to deliver the funny after at least two decades in the wilderness, though, I’m interested. Not convinced by anything anyone’s said so far, but interested.
I would like to congratulate the people who’ve bought tickets without showing up to the cinema, though. A thorough round of applause to you guys for tackling our current economic problems head-on. I hope you congratulated yourselves by reclining and lighting a cigar with a hundred dollar bill.
Tresjinon 04 Oct 2008 at 2:12 am 44For opening night in Portland, OR, it’s only playing in a handful of theaters around town, but I saw more people than I expected there to be in the theater. And it seems like almost all of them walked out liking the film.
“What did you think that meant, draft another 8 U.N. resolutions?”
“You sound like Ronald Reagan!”
“Thank you.”
Leo Grinon 04 Oct 2008 at 3:13 am 45I did my part and saw An American Carol at the 10:30pm show here in Los Angeles. Big, hip, popular theater complex on a Friday night, but there were only a half-dozen people at this particular showing. If this is indicative of the opening weekend throughout the country, the film is going to bomb big time financially, which really sucks.
I’m very sad to say that without a big audience goosing up the energy level, most of the film fell flat. Precious few laughs were elicited even though many scenes were funny “on paper” as it were. A very uneven tone and pace threw everyone off balance throughout, and several scenes of true tastelessness really turned me off (little kids constantly swearing up a storm, silly comedy played in the dust and ashes of Ground Zero, soldiers leaving for Iraq juxtaposed with Airplane-level slapstick of their families doing Three Stooges pratfalls).
I had high hopes for this film, and braved a Friday-night mall and an opening night crowd to see it and help it do well, something I haven’t done in years. But I came away from it feeling pretty let down and not really able to intellectualize why. One possible reason, just thinking out loud with the film still fresh in my mind: it was almost as if it preached a kind of conservatism that was as simplistic and hypocritical as we habitually accuse liberals of being. The forays into needless, senseless, unfunny jokes concerning foul-mouthed girl scouts and disabled kids lacked all of the deft handling that, say, the Farrelly Brothers bring to their best jokes. The depth of the patriotism and “heart” was paper-thin, little more than a few country songs of the “America — F-yeah!” variety and a few now-you-see-them, now-you-don’t shots of Monument Valley, Ground Zero, and families enjoying the 4th of July. A previous poster mentioned something important: every time you get caught up in a dramatic scene and it’s working, some silly pratfall or other intrusive joke manages to break the spell at just the wrong moment.
The amazing part is that the serious parts of this film almost all work really well. Robert Davi and Kelsey Grammer clearly deserve to get much more meaty and dramatic parts than they have habitually received — this film shows that they have talent and versatility to spare, and both just oozed that intangible charisma and star power that emanates from someone who the camera loves. John Voight is legitimately astounding, he manages in the smallest of cameos to instantly galvanize the viewer and make them believe that they are looking at a fully formed, three-dimensional George Washington, with as much gravitas as the best actor in a typical dramatic best-picture winner. You never feel for a second that he’s just an actor hamming it up in an old Revolutionary War costume, he utterly inhabits the role, and does so from the first second he’s on screen. Amazing.
I think in the end this film doesn’t know what it is, it’s trying to be Airplane! silly and A Christmas Carol serious and it’s just a bridge too far, it doesn’t come off. One problem I think is that liberals are essentially beyond parody at this point, they are so ridiculous in reality that any attempt at making them even sillier is asking to fall off a theatrical cliff. Trying to mock them is like trying to make a clown look silly or something — they already are plenty silly enough in real life. Take the Rosie O’Donnell scene: was the buffoonish stand-in here really that much more absurd or over-the-top or cringe-inducing than the real Rosie? Not really, it’s like seeing someone trying to jump a hurdle and tripping and smashing their way through it, and then saying “Now I’m going to screw that up even more colossally.” How much more juice can you give it?
I do recommend people still go and see this film, I think at worst it’s still liable to be mighty instructive for conservatives, especially conservative filmmakers. I walked away from it with a lot more of a solid idea of what might theoretically work in a conservative film of my own, and what might get too maudlin or shallowly patriotic without having earned the payoffs. It’s clear we have a long way to go to find a conservative voice on screen to match the power and skill of the best liberal films, or the conservative films of old. The day we learn to make conservative films of such depth and truth that even liberals walk away grudgingly liking and admiring them will be a watershed moment. I don’t think we’re quite there yet, we still leap at the obvious and the easy knee-jerk emotional moments, or take the sepia-toned patriotism of yesteryear and substitute that for what should be an attempt to find an organic, living patriotism in our very different, much more cynical and jaded modern world.
One final thought about An American Carol: I was conscious of, and impressed by, the fierceness with which I found myself grasping at every minor blip of patriotism and rock-ribbed conservatism in the film, like a drowning man lunging at a life-preserver. It brought home to me how positively starved I am (and I suspect all conservatives are) for decent big-screen portrayals of who we are and what we care about. Just seeing a guy like the Michael Malone nephew character, a broad-chested, thin-hipped soldier in his dress whites, all steel springs and whalebone, with a snap to his salute and a quiet courtesy in his demeanor — it was an image that carried an out-sized pathos, like seeing a long lost and well-loved relative alive in the flesh again. Hard to explain, but I’m more convinced than ever that the vast majority of people in this country are literally starving for hero-images and father-figures, they miss these exemplars of their values terribly at the movies. If and when someone figures out how to marry a series of Hunt for Red October-type intelligent action films about the War on Terror, infused with a powerful sense of intellectual and moral conservatism, look out.
Even if I didn’t care overmuch for this film as a whole, I take heart in the fact that the liberal side isn’t really doing any better. Last night I went to a guild screening in Hollywood of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York. Awful film, one of the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s a long, meandering, post-modern, fraudulent mess, like a dream/nightmare that ultimately means nothing, yet which the director is trying to pawn off as being fraught with inner revelation, if only we will be smart enough to decode the symbols on our tenth viewing. Kaufman spoke afterwards and took questions, of which the following is a typical exchange:
It was funny to see so many people leaving the theater in disgust even with the film’s director present and ready to talk. More got up and left before and during the questioning. A lot of murmurs of “What a load of meaningless crap. I can’t believe I just sat through that.” Actress Catherine Keneer was on hand as a surprise guest to introduce Kaufman, and she came off as a total hippy-dippy airhead barely able to string two sentences together. She looked great (in stark contrast to in the film, where she [deliberately, I guess] looked every day of her near-fifty years), but she seemed clearly to be on something. She got up on stage, grabbed a mike, and rambled something like, “Whoa…OK…wow…what can I say about Charlie. I wrote a few things down on a napkin (pulls out napkin, then forgets about reading it)….Charlie’s, like, so deep….yeah, he’s like, so wonderful and interesting as a director….and….what else….oh, I forgot to read my napkin…(big smile and laugh from the audience)…well, nevermind, let’s here it for Charlie!” Spike Jonze was in the corner watching the event unfold, too, but he didn’t say anything.
(As an aside — outside the theater there was a [very sparsely attended and kind of pathetic] red-carpet premiere for another film, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist [pics from the event are already available at IMDb]. From the time I arrived on site around 4pm to when I left around midnight, that red carpet had a battalion of energy-guzzling movie lights blazing down on it for hours, with no one there but a few cameramen waiting for nightfall and the eventual onset of whatever short ceremony they had planned. Don’t ever believe a Hollywood star or flunkie who tries to talk to you about things like energy conservation, they’re all shameless hypocrites. Even Ed Begley Jr. is part of the problem, to the degree that there is a problem, just by associating with this outrageously two-faced sanctimonious industry.)
But back to Synecdoche, New York — God, what an awful film. It managed to make everything — life, love, marriage, children, family, sex, religion, art, acting — look awful and hopeless and crappy and pathetic. With few exceptions the actors were made to look ugly as sin, painfully ugly. There were all manner of gross out shots of boils and bloodshed and used-and-unflushed toilet bowl shots. I kept whispering to my friend, a working screenwriter, “Dude, I didn’t fall in love with movies for this…I didn’t come to Hollywood for this…” My revulsion and existential boredom kept growing until it felt as if the film was nothing less than an assault on one’s love of film and of life — it was THAT bad. Thermonuclear post-modernism.
During the Q&A Kaufman went on for a while about how the three-act structure was at this late date a cliché and a tired cop-out, and he fancied himself a maverick and a hero for striving for something new and original in film. He might as well say that the three-meals-a-day structure is invalid, and from now on he’s going to satisfy his hunger by trying something new, like painting images of food rather than eating food. At some point you have to adhere to the basic way our brains and senses interpret images and languages and narrative, you can’t write off the very way we think and feel and perceive. What’s next, calling lights a restrictive cliché, and making his films in complete darkness? Our souls and senses aren’t just artistic playthings to be toyed with and then tossed into the gutter like so many used condoms, at some point you have to acknowledge that we are human beings and that we require some basic level of rock-solid, dependable mode of visual, aural, and conceptual communication. If you break too many rules eventually there’s nothing left but Jackson Pollockian splatters on the canvas.
After seeing this film and monitoring the reactions of the audience, I conclude that the people who seemed to enjoy it were the ones to whom real life is probably as equally bizarre and meaningless a potpourri of disconnected images and feelings as those inflicted by the film. At base, post-modernism seems to be at war with human nature and with life and existence itself. The people who dig it and find it “deep” seem to share feelings of confusion and betrayal concerning the laws of nature. None of it seems to make any sense to them, so they deal with life like monkeys confronted with some piece of technology they don’t understand. They play with it, slam it on the ground, hoot and holler and fling their crap at it. And at the end of the day, they blame life itself for their failure to perceive the road to a good, meaningful life, and they end up hating those who love Life and who seem to succeed at the game and understand the rules.
Movies like Synecdoche, New York are attempts to find some warped crystal-meth meaning in a sad gray liberal universe that to them is without apparent order or purpose. By the time they are finished rebuilding reality in the image of their dreams and nightmares, they have made a toilet full of crap as sacred as a cross and as fraught with importance and beauty as Stonehenge or the pyramids. Such films are evil in a empty, wimpy sort of way, in their quiet push to get the viewer to abandon and reject everything they hold dear, everything their senses tell them, everything that makes life worth living.
Man, what a one-two punch these two films were! It’s going to take a while for me to absorb and figure out exactly what I’m taking away from the experience.
Patriciaon 04 Oct 2008 at 4:55 pm 46Oh, Harry, I’m glad you loved it too! I thought I was just a sentimental fool.
This movie is brilliant, as you said, because it uses the humor to serve a bigger goal than just cynical mean-ness. The ending worked well, and I think Voight should get an Oscar (HAH!).
Go see it folks, it’s that good. Support good films.
coleon 05 Oct 2008 at 7:47 am 47American Carol was funny and entertaining and worth the ticket price. Enjoy the election season and speak with your wallet!
blueskyon 05 Oct 2008 at 1:01 pm 48Just saw it, the first half was better than the second. Kelsey Grammar was especially awesome; I hope he does more acting than I’ve seen him of late. I especially like the college part with the professors singing of how they indoctrinate children. That was no joke, I went to college straight from the military,and it was pretty much like that. My only beef is that they should have showed more female military. I was in the Navy in the late 80s and there were a lot more females even back then
bargal20on 15 Oct 2008 at 6:59 am 49Looks like “An American Carol” is as popular as everything else republican at the moment.
What a stinking fish of a film!